United States Solicitor General
The
United States Solicitor General is the individual appointed to argue for the
Government of the United States in front of the
Supreme Court of the United States, when the government is party to a case.
The Solicitor General works within the
United States Department of Justice; he or she is nominated by the
President and confirmed by the
Senate.
Among lawyers and jurists, the office of United States Solicitor General is generally considered to be the highest office for a practicing lawyer in the United States.
The office of Solicitor General was founded in
1870, and some traditions have been established. Whenever the Solicitor General or one of his deputies argues a case before the Supreme Court he continues to wear late
19th century style dress, with striped pants, grey ascot, black vest, and a cutaway
morning coat, making him a very distinctive sight in the courtroom.
Another, very substantive, tradition (that is possibly unique in United States) is the Solicitor General's right and practice of
confession of judgment in cases where he or she considers the Government's prior official position to be clearly unjust: he or she can just drop the case, even if the Government has already won in the lower courts. Solicitor General
Paul Clement made such a confession in January
2005 regarding a law prohibiting the display of
marijuana policy reform ads in
public transportation. Clement stated in a letter to Congress that "the government does not have a viable argument to advance in the statute's defense."
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Official website
